Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire (3ed) - Tapa dura

Julie Taymor is one of the most imaginative and provocative directors and designers working in the performing arts. Her productions range from musicals and Shakespeare plays to classical operas and films. In this unique volume, award-winning writer Eileen Blumenthal traces Taymor's theatrical apprenticeship and presents many of Taymor's major projects in theatre, opera and film. The numerous pictures include production photos, Taymor's sketches for characters and costumes, and shots of her in rehearsal and constructing puppets and masks. Following the essay, more than twenty productions are lavishly illustrated. Also featured are Taymor's own notes on each production. A new section, introduced by film critic Antonio Monda, includes Taymor's most recent film, "Frida", as well as her forthcoming opera "Grendel" and movie musical "Across the Universe". Altogether this sumptuous book offers a fascinating look at the creative sprit of one of today's leading directors, writers and designers.

Eileen Blumenthal is a Professor of Theatre Arts at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and a writer on contemporary Asian and Western theatre. Julie Taymor has received two Tony Awards, a MacArthur Fellowship and many other honours. She has designed or directed 20 productions since the mid-1970s and lives in New York City. Screenwriter and director Antonio Monda has made documentaries, commercials and an award-winning feature film. He is the film critic for the New York Review of Books and cultural correspondent for La Republica. He has curated shows for museums including the Guggenheim and he currently teaches film at New York University.